Wall-E

Wall-E

2008

Directed by Andrew Stanton

The films of Pixar continue to amaze me. For a while, I thought the films were falling into a familiar pattern. Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, and Finding Nemo all seemed to have similar story lines to me... finding someone who was lost. These films were very enjoyable, but to me it felt like Pixar was following a simple formula for each of their films. Ratatouille was the first Pixar film that, to me, really broke this mold. That was a great film, and Wall-E in comparison is an outstanding film.

Wall-E is such a great mixture of comedy and melancholy. Wall-E himself is a sweet, funny, and sad looking character. His eyes are so full of expression that the viewer almost automatically connects with him and his plight. One of the great things about this film, is that most of the film is without dialogue and emotions have to be conveyed through body language. The animators did a spectacular job of this, and this visual language is one of the reasons that this is such a strong film. 

The film presents a very pessimistic view of humanity and the future. Earth has become so polluted that humans have to evacuate the planet. Robots have been trusted to clean up the earth, but the planet may never recover. This is one element that adds to the melancholy of the film. Wall-E is alone and lonely, but it is the fault of the human race that causes him to be put in this situation.  Humans are depicted later on in the film as inactive blobs who have become so complacent in their lives that they have forgotten what it is like to be human.  The film does end on an optimistic note... but an incredible amount of hard work is necessary in order to maintain this happy ending.

Rustin Allison

Dead Space: Downfall

Dead Space: Downfall

2008

Directed by Chuck Patton

This will be the last short post. I just had too many films backing up on me and too little time at the moment to catch up! I do want to keep my New Year's resolution and write about every film that I have seen this year, so even though they may be short -- I'm still writing!

I enjoyed the video game quite a bit. It had a great way of building dread and suspense in a very claustrophobic atmosphere. I can't quite say the same for this film. The film is worth watching for a bit of back story leading up to the events in the video game, but this information can be gathered from the game anyway. The film didn't really create any sense of dread or horror, and the characters weren't fleshed out enough to care about.

Rustin Allison

Pom Poko

Pom Poko

1994

Directed by Isao Takahata

This is a Studio Ghibli film from the the mid 1990s. The story follows a colony of tanuki that live in a forest that is about to be turned into a suburb and how they try defend their natural habitat.

Tanuki are actually creatures that are similar to raccoons, but there is also mythology that surrounds them. Tanuki have the ability to shape-shift and the tanuki in this film use this ability in their efforts to thwart the deconstruction of the forest.

One of the aspects of this film that I really enjoyed was the amount of references to Japanese mythology... not just the stories surrounding the Tanuki. In the above photo some of the tanuki have turned into dharma. Dharma are little sculptures that have no eyes. An eye is painted on to symbolize a goal or a wish, and when the goal or wish takes place the other eye is painted. The film is full of these little details... some I was able to pick up on and others that I am sure went completely over my head. 

One scene that is really spectacular is when the tanuki join forces to make a parade of the spirit world through the city and scare the humans. I was able to spot some oni and the god of wind and the god of thunder.

Rustin Allison

Persepolis

Persepolis

2007

Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi

I had heard about the graphic novel that this film was based on in several of my religious studies classes, so I was quite interested in seeing the animated film version. Persepolis is the coming of age story of a young Iranian girl during the period of the Iranian revolution when the shah was ousted out of power. The original graphic novel was written by Marjane Satrapi and she co-directed the film version. 

The film obviously keeps its ties to the graphic novel, but it also has a great early film feel to it. The edges of the frame are often in shadow and there are many shots where the camera iris closes to focus on one of the characters or something important. Most of the film is black and white with just a few sequences in color. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this film as it allows a personal look at a time and culture that I know very little about. That is one of the joys of cinema... to see different perspectives and experiences.

Rustin Allison

Monsters Vs Aliens

Monsters Vs Aliens

2009

Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon

This is the first 3D film that I have seen since The Nightmare Before Christmas was re-released in theaters a couple of years back. I went to see this movie because it was 3D, and although it wasn't the best animated film I have ever seen... it was worth seeing it in 3D. The film was funny enough and I loved all of the references to old sci-fi movies. It just felt like a re-hash of The Incredibles to me.

The main reason to see this film is the 3D presentation. Yes, my eyes did feel a bit of a stain after a while... but it was worth it. The destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge sequence has received much attention and it deserves the notice. This sequence was very thrilling to watch and the 3D aspect of it added so much. Since this film was a success, it will be interesting to see where 3D goes from here.

Rustin Allison